Musync!

Cinema Music in India has evolved more than anything that's remotely close to extinction. The nonsensical sounds of Anu Malik, Nadeem Sharavan have gone away someplace far from humanity and I am more than happy to know that!
Today, with the bunch of super talented Music composers , Indian Cinema Music has redifined itself. It all started back in the 90's by one of the greatest music composers of all times giving away the highly contemporary music of the film Roja. Since then, Indian listeners were opened up to new genres in Cinema music. Today the trend has spread over to almost every Music composer. To name a few (other than AR Rahman) - Shankar Eshaan Loy, Salim-Suleman, Vishal Shekhar, Amit Trivedi , Harris Jeyaraj (for the ones who don't know- The RHTDM fame) have made Cinema music better than ever.
For the ones who don't follow 'hindi' music and believe it to be something cheap to do so, I can't find more sad personalities than them ever. If you really respect music, you'll appreciate it from wherever it comes. And hindi Cinema music is giving out substantial stuff. Following one genre is not wrong, but condemning the other genres to prove the only music is that 'specific' genre you follow is totally wrong.
Sometimes I feel great to have access to so many genres that I have a playlist which has a compilation of almost all genres I know of.
A GOOD hindi film music is considered "What the f*** duuuudddee" at a not-so-cool party. But any C-grade song by some teen girl artiste looking for love in her videos is considered hep in the same party. WTF.
Sometimes, all i want people to do is appreciate good music (especially in the cinema world) because most of the "I want to sound as a European" wanna be's think it's lame. Wherein, it's not.
Be it a Hindi song, or a Tamil song, or a Bengali song, if it's really good..go ahead, appreciate it , and spread the word. Humming "stairway to heaven" in front of your Metal friends or humming "Poker Face" in front of your Hip Hop friends just to impress them, doesn't make you look cool. Seriously.

People sometimes think I am weird to listen to Tamil music, when I don't even understand the lyrics. Well, if i was looking for meaningful lyrics, I would have heard hindi ghazals. Somehow, lyrics have never done the trick for me.

I am proud to say I can love Deep Purple and Harris jeyaraj in the same musical space in my head. It's not idiotic. It's just liking what you actually like.


I don't care what people think of this post. But what I really care for is, appreciating good music, more than confining your fanaticism for a particular genre.


"Music is purely subjective"


Thanks.

Stop being the idiot! (pun unintended)

Indian Cinema has come a long way from what it was like back in the 70's and the 80's. I don't follow much of the regional films in our country, so I would stick to the Hindi Film Industry.
Today i see a lot of quality in Hindi Films. I see meaning, freshness, goodwill and everything that I longed for whenever I used to see any hindi movie almost a decade back. To start naming, It would take a lot many years to name all the good movies in Hindi that have come in the recent past. But I'll name a few ( the ones that are on my mind right now.Not necessarily the most favorites.) - Swades, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, 3 Idiots, Luck By Chance, Rock On, etc. What really appeals is the freshness that comes out of these films. There's a sense of postivity. Technically, they are near perfection. One thing that connects all these films is a 'strong' screenplay. (Does not mean a realistic one). The script and the screenplay is very powerful and the most important factor to have made the film a very big success. If you believe it was getting superstars to make it good- JTYJN proved you wrong. If you thought it was realism to have made it good- 3 Idiots proved you wrong. All you need is a strong script and it's equivalent screenplay. Given the dedication and the effort- the film's on it's way to become a very good one.
For all those who believe watching hindi movies is not 'cool' or , speaking about world cinema leaving out your own cinema make you a very good movie buff. Think again, your own country's film scenario has improved substantially (yeah- we still do lack from Hollywood, but that's not something to be sad about). Watching hindi movies has not made you any less cooler. Only neglecting it has.

I sometimes really don't understand when people say -" the film was boring because it was predictable" e.g- Wake up sid. One question-What were you expecting? a thriller?
Sometimes, films are supposed to be taken at face value, not because they don't go deep...but because they make you feel pleasant, and that's why it's so good. Wake up Sid was one of those feel-good films, and that's how you take it. Same goes for 3 Idiots. No point trying to prove your stance right by saying -'how can a dead infant be brought back by saying aal iz well. All you need to have is an open mind and not get confined to think- a movie works only if showcases realism. Sorry. I am not buying that.


Stop being an idiot, and start acknowledging what's right. It's more cool that way! =p

Thanks.

I decided to write again, not because i had forgotten about blogging, but i was waiting for bad things to happen which i could pen down. But then, somehow, offlate- life has been pretty much good.

Whatsoever,
I write this ..for my school. A place where I spent 7 years of my not-so-sad life. Getting up early to the school bus horn, and spending the evenings, figuring out if the homework is worth the effort! Everything seems fun now. That's how it is- once it's over- good or bad- doesn't matter...you always seem to miss it. I don't miss my school much. Not because I didn't like it or anything, but then I want to see those 7 years of my life as a time which were so special that it would deplete it's value by reliving it. I want to look back at my life and remember those school days ..only to tell myself that I am proud to have had a beautiful childhood.
If going to school for Sports Day can make me drown in nostalgia, so be it... I am ready to drown.


Thanks.

A choice never made.

Long time. Nevertheless, here I go...

You can't decide. Whom do you listen to ? Yourself, or the people who care for you? At some point in our lives, we have situations that send you in a dilemma as to who would be correct. what you think, or what the people are telling you? Trust me, It's a very difficult choice to make. you seem to have varied thoughts. At one instance, you feel you are right. And at the other, you feel you can never be practical!

Maybe, it's not the choice you make that matters. But what you do about that aspect of life you chose. Rightness, here, becomes subjective. When people advice you, they do it keeping you in mind. And when you decide for yourself, you decide keeping the world in mind. Having a perfect solution is a little impossible. But, it shouldn't matter. How you accept your life..and bring about that change, is what really matters.

We can either be stubborn and get stuck up in a world less known for it's realism, or break open into society and accept what it wants. I wouldn't want to do a thing like that. i wouldn't be much concerned, what i would want to choose. What would concern me is, what i do eventually about it. Any choice you make, makes you learn, and be a better person. No two choices are always kept aloof from each other. At some point, everything comes down-to you. And if, you are the one holding the reins, then it's no point caring whom to listen to. Do it. Experience. And, let time take you ahead.

I don't know, how many actually would want to believe me. I don't know, if people would want me to regret my decisions. But all i know is, finally in the end, all that would matter is. ME. My life, and my destiny...that i wrote myself!

Thanks

For you, a thousand times over.

I don't know why, but I happened to watch The Kite Runner for the second time. Having read the book, initially, when I heard about the existence of this film, i was a bit skeptical. Usually, we have seen films ruining the book. Sometimes, they do not exude the required emotion. And when it came to The Kite Runner, a book filled with human emotions-i was almost sure about the pathetic adaptation this film would have. But then, i was proved wrong. When i saw it for the first time, the film brought in me those same emotions which had surfaced when i was reading the book. Maybe for the first time, a book and a film on it, had equally appealed to me!

Now, when i happened to see it for the second time. I don't know why, but it moved me a lot. Even though i knew the story in and out and i knew the film's adaptation. Somewhere it still touched me. And it made me realize, that the film was better than the book. It was better than what i had imagined while reading the book. The direction, acting, screenplay, everything was beyond appreciation! Especially the music, which was eternal!

I don't know why people didn't enjoy the film. If it's the reason of cutting out stuff from the book, then i don't buy the reason. A two hour motion picture cannot have every scene of a 400 paged book. It's practically not possible. But still, this film made it's best attempt to get all the emotions right. And invariably, it turns out better than the book.

Kite Runner is one of the most admirable books i have ever read. I loved it for it's simplicity and it's real human emotions. And the film, just gave me the icing on the cake.
Sometimes, when i think about Aamir, Hassan, and everyone who was a part of that story...i seem to be transported into a world, where love, friendship, and humanity have no bounds. We just never understand this. This film (and the book) made me realize that life was more than being a part of a society where you wish to be someone, who could stand out.Be it the moving lines "for you, a thousand times over" or "there's a way to be good again" ...i don't fail to remember this film, because it made me realize so much about things that didn't seem so trivial.

I wish to walk down the lane of love and friendship, lined with flowers. I wish to see the stars shine always. And I wish that, when i turn around-I don't find myself alone...


Thanks.

Rational Emotions

Maybe a year back, I realized I wasn't really myself. I was being this jerk in town. I couldn't make out the difference between rational and irrational emotions. I played my game alone and lost it even when I knew there couldn't be a winner. Every time I knew something went wrong, I would proudly blame the other person involved in it. Maybe I was right. Who knows? But the point is-I couldn't make out the difference.

We fail to know that there's a world outside the drama that's being played in the Theatre. Getting drastic or overflowing with emotions is not always wrong. You tend to learn about the mistakes that could have happened eventually. We understand people better. Once you are out of this upsetting phase, we see it as an embarrassment to even look back at ourselves. We change the topic by a 'forget it' or 'it’s ok'. Often we forget of what we have become because of all this. It might not be worth admiring-what we have become. But it gives you a sense of satisfaction. To have grown out of this emotional turmoil. Without feeling lost at any point anywhere. In the process, we loose and we gain. But what we loose seems insignificant in front of all those good things that follow.

I speak so, because I have been through it. I am no more ashamed to have been the 'dramatic idiot'. I did feel I shouldn't have been so. But today, I know for one thing-that something similar to this won't ever happen. Today-I know why we say that rational emotions are important in this practical and fast moving world. There's no space for the irrational ones. They get confined to the cinema halls. We need to be rational, even when we know it's no point talking sense. That's how the world is. That's how people want you to be. And I have accepted it. Once you accept it, you’ll realize that the world seems a lot merrier than you could have ever imagined.

Thanks.

Music, love, Rahman.

Every morning, i woke up to find nothing about a musician in a leading newspaper. Everything seemed unreal. Days went by, and i couldn't find anything!
I started contemplating if people were even bothered to know what the greatest musician of India was up to?No one. Evidently, boomtown rap seemed exceedingly puerile. A few did know that among all this jigger of glamor...he sheltered inside his studio somewhere in Chennai...preparing for all those editorials, interviews, pictures and recognition that was to follow!
A film got released. It created ripples of success all across the 'globe'. And..one morning...we heard the words-"A R Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire..!"
He stood up from his seat. As he started walking, he exuded his strength, his effort, his hard work with each step. Every step he made...was an answer to all those papers and news channels who didn't seem to see anything beyond some unreal reality show.
His return was welcomed, as though he was a warrior of heaven. Returning after triumphing over the colossal devil.
Everywhere, you heard about the same film...the same name and the same song.
It wasn't to cherish for...but something to live for.
Soon-things didn't seem to come back to it's old life.
Amidst all the excitement and happiness, this musician went back into those studios to get back to passion, to be transported into a world...where even imagination has no bounds....
Sometimes we forget...that when the sun sets on the country, a sun awakens somewhere in the midst of Chennai!